Biography of Alexander Thompson Van Nest ALEXANDER THOMPSON VAN NEST was born September 29, 1844, in New York City.  He was the son of Abraham R. and Mary (Thompson) Van Nest. He prepared for college at Professor Griffin's private school for boys, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and entered our Class in the autumn of 1859, remaining with us until the end of Sophomore year, and then removed, after a year out of college, to Princeton University, then known as the College of New Jersey, where he was graduated in 1864. While in our college he joined the Chi Psi fraternity, and he was also a member of the 'Technian Literary Society and of Greylock Baseball Club. After leaving college Van Nest lived in the city of New York, and devoted his time to looking after the interests of himself and family in various corporations in which their large capital was invested. He was never in public life, yet was very influential in the financial and business circles of the city. March 26, 1873, he married Miss Margaret Taylor, daughter of Robert Lenox Taylor, of New York City. They had one child, who is married to John Stewart Barney, of Richmond, Virginia. He died suddenly, August 10, 1896, of apoplexy, while riding upon a bicycle, at Schwalbach, Germany.   Source:  Class of Sixty-Three Williams College Fortieth Year Report, by the Class Historian, Thomas Todd Printer, Boston, 1903